Record-Breaking Rainfall in Yamagata, Akita Prefectures; 1 Reported Dead, 3 Missing

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:51 JST, July 26, 2024

YAMAGATA — Record rainfall hit Yamagata and Akita prefectures on Thursday and Friday, leaving one person dead and three missing.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, as of 9 a.m. on Friday, new records for maximum precipitation in a 24-hour period were set in seven locations, including Shinjo, Yamagata Prefecture, with 389 millimeters.

The body of an elderly man who was believed to have been carried away by the waters was found near the Omono River in Akita on Friday morning. Police are confirming his identity, believing him to be an 86-year-old man from the city.

On Thursday night in Shinjo, a police car was washed away near a bridge over the Nitta River, a tributary of the Mogami River. Police have also lost contact with two officers who were dispatched after receiving an emergency call Thursday night reporting a car that had been carried away and come to a stop off the road. A man, believed to be one of the officers, was found nearby in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest on Friday afternoon.

In Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture, a man in his 60s who had been working on a road was reported missing in a landslide on Thursday morning.

The most serious evacuation advisory, “Emergency Safety Measures,” was issued to about 35,000 households comprising 75,000 people across both prefectures.